


In Another World

by Chu



Series: Of Princes and Pages. [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Longing, Love, M/M, Prince and Page, Romance, care, hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-05 06:32:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chu/pseuds/Chu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake English, a page in the Royal household entertains the fluttering of feelings for a Prince he knows he cannot have, but has had the pleasure of being on occasion a friend and companion to. A ride brings trouble and the feelings surface once more. Oh if only they could be realised. If only things were different. Perhaps they are, somewhere, off in another world. </p><p>-Companion fic chapter for a picture by Akitsu-47 on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Another World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [akitsu_47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/akitsu_47/gifts).



> This story is written once again for my lovely Akitsu-47 who is continuing to be an utter inspiration to me! She encourages me to write things I would never have pushed myself to finish without her input. She expressed a wish for something 'Prince and Page' related in a historical setting, so here is my attempt to oblige! I hope I very much hope my attempt at fulfilling her request is to her satisfaction.

The arms that lifted him from the frozen ground where his lithe form had landed were warmer than he had ever dared to hope they might be. Not that he had ever dreamed he would be blessed enough to feel them. This would also not have been is reason of choice for bringing about such an experience. Currently they were reaching under him, lifting him, pulling him from the ground as he simply lay in them, almost as limp as a ragdoll. He was dazed his whole being unmoving due to being thrown from his horse as he sought to reign in the frightened creature. Clearly however his attempts had been quite in vain as a low bough of a shadowed tree had been his downfall, quite literally, winding him badly, stealing the air from his lungs and leaving him with an ache in his chest. 

Such an ache was not an unfamiliar feeling to the young man however. 

His given name was Jake. His family name was English and he had the pleasure to find himself in an enviable placement, working in the household of the royal family themselves, blessed, as it were, with the position of a Royal Page. The roots of his own family tree tied his parents with those of the current monarchy. They could claim little more than to be distant cousins, but it was enough of a claim to have done young Jake some service. He was currently nearing 20 years of age, and was nothing more than a second son of a very, very minor noble, so the position of fetching and carrying, running letters and such like for those of royal blood had never been a lot he held himself above despite the company he had grown accustomed to keeping. The placement had been secured for him as a favour to his father some years back, and honestly he had always sought to honour the good deed which did much to earn him connections of his own as well as a good understanding of how and why certain things were done in such a great household, and how to conduct himself. 

Over the years a certain bond had sprung up between himself and the second Prince of the family. He was often selected as the Prince’s companion as had been in this particular incidence. They were close, they had been for some time and though he found great satisfaction in the friendship there were certainly days where a part of him, a secret and hidden part deeply yearned and longed for something more. It was unanswerable however, nothing could ever come of his wishes and consequently all he could do was keep them locked away to brood on forlornly in private. Today he had been out with the Prince at his personal request. The pair had taken a ride to shake off the oppressive boredom of winter but things had taken a turn for the worse. 

The heavy sound of silence seemed to surround the two lone souls. The world was lost in a whirl of black and white. For the moment there was scarcely a breath of wind. In the sky above them the moon was a mere memory. Hours before she had raised her pale face high in the sky, shining her soft white light down to the earth for a time, but by this hour the grey tendrils of cloud that had been threatening her light and the more garish light of the sun earlier in the day had utterly overwhelmed her and there was not a glimmer of star nor moon to be seen from anywhere. 

The tall shapes of the tree’s that lined the road on either side looked to be almost strangled by briar and bramble in the low light, choking knots of vine and leaf decorated all around with a dusting of snow. It had begun to fall nearly a half hour previously from the blackened sky, first in a violent flurry of wind as the two rode, but now merely kissing the frozen earth all around them as the large flakes gently drifted down. 

They had been riding fast, pushing their horses hard with their desire to escape the weather and of course reach home. They both knew they should have been taking more care, thinking more of the horses, but human nature had its spells of selfishness, selfishness which was often poorly rewarded in the end. Fierce winds beat the snow down upon them in freezing lashes. As they reached a line of trees, split in a wide dark mouth for the road to continue on through them, Jake’s horse had startled sharply at a sound from the darkness. It had spooked and bolted, rushing fast along the path and well out of control. Jake had hung on, barely hearing the yell of his friend behind him as he was carried away. It was in that wild rush that the bough became his downfall. Most branches had been kissed with snow, highlighting them even in the poor light, but this one remained hidden. Somehow it had come to be sheltered from above and had almost entirely escaped the reach of the snow which had been flurried about. Jake had not even known that there was a need to duck at the moment the branch soundly connected with his chest, his horses bowed head moving easily beneath it.

He had spilled from the saddle backwards as the horse effectively bolted out from under him, his feet blessedly coming free from the stirrups. He was left hanging tightly to the branch for a moment before his arms had given and his form had tumbled down and hit the ground. His breath thus knocked from his lungs twice in quick succession had been a struggle to regain. Each inhale had been a strangled gasp as he laid there, snow slowly laying itself on him with without the high and violent gusts of air to carry it around in a wild dance. It was calm where he now lay, or at least it felt that way with the army of trees standing on either side of the road. 

He had only been vaguely aware of what was going on about him as he felt the warm arms of his Prince and friend lifting him from the earth. His vision was blurred. He could not see the blondes face to make out his expression, though his sight was a touch poor at the best of times. Instead of straining his eyes closed them over, choosing not to vaguely see. He would rather see nothing than a shifting world that confused his already shaken senses. Nothing was clear, he didn’t know how long he’d lain on the ground and he could not honestly tell exactly how long he was held in the blonde’s arms. Al he knew was that it felt warmed, safer and his breathing started to ease up a little as the pain in his chest lessened. It was still a while however before his friend’s voice finally started to tug at his consciousness and caught his attention. 

“Jake. Jake? Do you hear me? Jake! Answer me! Oh come now, do not merely lay there, will you not answer me? Speak! Speak I say! That is an order page!” The Princes tone was tight, his chest constricted with concern for the limp young man he had scooped up into his arms. The sight of his friends head lolling back as it was, dark hair kissed with flakes of snow honestly chilled him almost more than the weather did. Feelings he should not feel. Words he could not say. Wishes he made in private all sought to choke him with worry at seeing the seemingly insensible form in his arms. 

His raised tone at the end however seemed to have done the job, shaken from the stunned state the page was at least able to force his voice to form words, stumbled and poorly executed of course, but words none the less. “Hush highness. Hush. Calm your cares. I am quite well. You need not lift me thus. I am somewhat shaken to be sure but the fall was of little matter else.” His breath was rather short as he spoke; the words carried with them a twang of discomfort. He had not yet fully recovered from the blow to his chest, or the following fall onto his back. 

“Silence page. Cease your unworthy distress. If you are unable to stand and there is no help to be had but mine I dare say that in all good faith and under Gods eyes t’would be wrong for me to withhold assistance, uninjured and unimpaired as I am. That is of course unless you believe the arms of a man such as I too low of rank or wanting in decency to support your form in such a manner?” There was only a slight hint in the Prince’s tone, the very barest lift to his words which gave away his humour, his slight teasing. He was a master of keeping his intentions and feelings hidden. It was only carelessness brought on by worry which gave him away at all, though he need not have felt even a jot of consternations at his lack of care in this incidence.

Jake retorted at once, a hot rush of indignity coursing through him at the apparent misunderstanding of his comment. “Nay! Nay I say again! And indeed I should not have to!” His words tumbled forth without him taking even a moment to think them through. It took nothing at all to make sure that he rose at once to the jested accusation. “You know that statement to be false; I should never seek to imply such a thing!” He was brought to a pause however at a quiet chuckle rumbling in the chest of the blonde haired man that held him and at once felt quite the fool. He sighed as he spoke again, his tone a little tight. “Even fallen as I am must you tease me thus?” There was almost irritation in the words despite their continued breathless sound. Banter. Banter and always more banter. It was often hard to place a serious conversation with the Prince. He had a light heart once you learned how to see past the air of chill superiority and found your way into his esteem. “It is just as you say, there is no one else at hand, but I seek not for a moment to be a burden. Set me down and I shall walk quite well.”

Dirk rolled his eyes then at his friends continued insistence that he would be able to support himself. He could not resist chiding him further however. “Pride you bright eyed fool. Pride shall be your greatest folly and it more assuredly always makes itself known before a great fall. Bear this in mind and cease your prattle. I will help you now my friend and that is all there is to be said. Ah no. Do not speak! I bid you silence now.” Jake closed his lips as the Prince spoke, they had parted to retort once again but he was soon forced to see that it was unlikely that he would win out on this score. 

“Place your arm around my shoulders Jake.” Dirk stated. “You are not as light as you look and it will be of some assistance in moving you about. Be at least a touch helpful will you? Or am I as ever to do all the work myself- Ah! Oh do not frown so. I am jesting! Merely jesting!” Dirk had laughed very quietly once again, a low chuckle nothing more though despite his friends humour Jake felt somewhat vindicated that his scowl at the accusations of laziness which were in truth quite unfounded had brought the Prince to backing up a little in his speech. He leant a little more soundly against the other young man’s chest however, his arm actually pulling around his shoulders to secure his own frame a little more soundly in place and to take some of the weight from his friends’ arms. Dirk did not begin to move however, and instead Jake found himself glancing up right into the night darkened eyes of the young blonde.

He felt a little rush of nerves fly through him. For just a moment he almost dared to hope that something more than just the sound friendship they had could exist. As their eyes met for that moment it felt almost as if it could be the case, but even as he looked up into the face of his friend, his Prince... somewhere deep inside of him, despite his tortured hope, he knew it couldn’t be. It could never be. Dirk had his own path to follow, one which certainly didn’t include the folly of offering his heart to one so many ranks below his own, not mention the obvious symmetry of their genders. What Jake wanted, what he so desperately longed for could simply never be an actuality. Every time he allowed the false hope to grip him, it hurt all the more to let it go. 

Perhaps in another world, in another time, their lips could have touched then. His hands could have lifted to clutch at the strong jaw; his fingers could have brushed those regal cheeks with their pale buttermilk skin. In another world he could have leant in to breathe words of love and gratitude against those lips he longed to feel. In another world the arms around him would still have been the caring arms of a dear friend, but they could have been so very much more as well, love of another sort could have imbued the embrace. He could have been held nearer, dearer and closer. He could have pressed his chilled face into the likely terribly warm neck and chilled his friend for all his kindness. He could have felt the thrill of the passion he was so sure the Prince could feel, despite how collected he always came across. In another world he could have held onto this moment with no fear of reproach, he could have believed them to be a possibility. He could have had so much. 

In another world his Prince, his Dirk would have offered him his heart and restored all his hopes for a bright future. And in that other world, just as in this one, he would have accepted.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a whole series of ideas on how I could turn this into a full story, so that may at some point be on the cards in the future depending on how I am able to plan it all out and if I feel it will actually work well enough, but if you've an interest, keep an eye out?
> 
> To clarify however: A Royal Page. 
> 
> :: A royal page was in almost every case a scion ‘Kinsman’ of the ruling monarchy or some other great family who had ties to the crown. So like.. a cousin or a such, not the immediate kids, but like.. the son of a more unfortunate relative, maybe that sister they had that actually married a fairly poor, in comparison baron rather than the ricer one, or just had too many kids than their means would allow. Being a royal page and serving in the royal household was basically meant to help them to learn the ways great houses were run so they’d know for later life. It was a gesture of good will between the two great families involved and was designed to help them gain political contacts in later life. So it wouldn’t have been unheard of for a page to accompany a member of the royal family out and about as a personal companion or assistant if they so chose. They fetched and carried, ran messages and served if that was what was required.


End file.
